New guidelines for Bright Horizons backup care benefit
A rapidly evolving public health situation around COVID-19, the new coronavirus, has necessitated new guidelines for Bright Horizons, a UT Southwestern employee benefit. The Bright Horizons program provides benefits-eligible employees with low-cost backup child, adult, and elder care – a big help when an employee’s normal child or elder care providers are unavailable.
For the safety of its clients – who typically fall into two particularly high-risk demographics for respiratory illnesses – Bright Horizons will require that all families refrain from use of backup care for 14 days following the last potential exposure if any member of the household has (or has been in close contact with anyone else who has):
- A suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
- Recently returned from a *Level 2 or *Level 3 area, as designated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
If no household member has experienced any symptoms at the end of a 14-day period, you are welcome to use Bright Horizons for backup care. If any household member does experience symptoms during that 14-day period, however, you will be required to obtain medical clearance before using backup care.
Close contact includes (but may not be limited to) individuals in the same household, houseguests, frequent visitors, or individuals who are otherwise present in the household on a regular basis, such as nannies, caregivers, home health workers, contractors, and other individuals who have been in the home often.
More about the benefit
- Benefits-eligible employees include all full-time employees (40 hours a week) and part-time employees (30-39 hours a week).
- Full-time employees can use Bright Horizons a maximum of 8 days per year.
- Part-time employees can use Bright Horizons a maximum of 4 days per year.
Please contact Bright Horizons at 877-242-2737 with any questions, or you can learn more about Bright Horizons online.